31<\/strong>. ye my flock are men<\/em> ] Omit “are men” with LXX. and read: and ye are my flock pasture, and I am your God<\/em>.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31<\/span><\/p>\n And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mans destiny<\/strong><\/p>\n Every breath of the autumnal wind brings down hundreds of faded leaves: they lie thick under the fast baring trees in thousands. Perfect in form, wonderful in construction, beautiful in hue, they are crushed down in myriads under every passing foot of man or beast. And what is the fall of one leaf among so many? Yet we are told by those who have studied the vast distances and proportions of this marvellous universe,–the fall of our world from the sphere of creation would be but as the fall of a leaf in the midst of a great forest. And our text does not even concern itself with the earth in its entirety, but speaks only of the members of the race that inhabits it, creatures of a moment, dying fast as the leaves of the autumn wood, and swept like them to decay.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The Lord God. This holy name meant much to the devout Israelite in Ezekiels time. The Jew had been taught to ascribe all around him–from the tiny herb on the wall to the cedars of Lebanon, from the raindrop against his easement to the blue waters of the Mediterranean that washed the shores of his beloved land, from the minute insect on the leaf to the lion roaring for his prey, from the lowest among the people to the majestic figure of a Moses or an Elijah–to the power and will of the Lord God. For Thy pleasure they are and were created was a fundamental article of his faith. And he associated with the holy name the conception of the Lawgiver. Yet what was his knowledge of the power and majesty of the Lord God compared with that we now possess? The power, the wisdom, and the greatness of the Lord God as creator have been magnified a thousandfold by the scientific research of later days. And certainly the discoveries of science have tended to magnify the idea of Law. We meet it everywhere, inflexible, unbending, supreme. If, then, it is dominant in the physical universe, and certain to justify itself upon the disobedient, must not we, who acknowledge the God of the Israelites, feel what an argument we thus have for the fact that the moral law is equally stern and unyielding in its demands on our obedience? Thus are we prepared to understand our need of the Gospel, and to comprehend in some degree the absolute necessity, of the perfect obedience and of the great Atonement which is set forth in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The first duty required of man–the initial duty, if he is to receive blessing and acceptance, is that he should bow down in humility and adoration before the Lord his God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>He, then, the High and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity, is the speaker. And looking down upon this little globe, a mere speck in His vast universe, He says of its inhabitants, Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God. And what has science to tell us of man? It has been busy with his origin, with his capabilities and his destiny, and every step in its progress has tended to do away with any special dignity as connected with our humanity. We are asked to believe that by a gradual process man has been developed from the lowest scale of organism to his present state of physical and intellectual power; we are told that all the researches of science go to prove that the difference between his mental capabilities and those of the higher animals is one of degree, not of kind; we are confidently assured that as they die so he dies. Science can find no trace of the spirit of man that goeth upward, and it can only pronounce upon what it sees, and the lofty conceptions of mans immortality it dismisses to the region of dreams.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>And has our experience a more flattering tale to tell of human capabilities and destinies? A few years of bright hope and vigour, a narrow span of time which is utterly insufficient to fulfil one half of mans aspirations and purposes, a training which is suddenly arrested, an education broken short, a sharp discipline of sorrow and pain–and then the darkness and decay of death. Mans very work outlives him. The labours of his brain and hands have a vitality beyond his own. If we look at man morally, have we greater reason for speaking of his dignity? There is much that we may call noble, but how much that is unutterably mean and degrading! There is a gradual advance in civilisation and outward refinement, but the thin veneered surface covers a depth of moral defilement and evil.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Yet it is of man, of whom science and experience have but a mournful tale to tell, that the Lord God says, Ye, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God. And this is surely the point to which we are brought. Talk as we may of the dignity and destiny of humanity, we search in vain for any real proof of it till we come to the Revelation of Gods Word. The Bible, which throws the clearest light on mans weakness and sin, exalts him to a height above all we could hope or desire. It marks out man from the rest of creation by the fact that he is capable by grace of hearing Gods voice, of following after and of loving Him. The Lord takes one of the tenderest relations of pastoral life when He says, Ye are My flock; and in the fulness of time we have the clear explanation of these words in those of Christ Jesus our Lord, I am the Good Shepherd: My sheep hear My voice and follow Me. He who believes that this world has been trodden by the human steps of the Son of God, that His prayers have ascended from it, that He shed His blood to redeem it, that He shared our humanity even unto death, and lives again at Gods right hand, can receive with joy unspeakable the marvellous promises of the destiny of those who are Christs. The love of God becomes a reality, life earnest, restoration to holiness possible. (D. Reith, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Gods care for men<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That care arose from His heartfelt love to men. It was not mere pity excited by their wants, or commiseration engendered by their helplessness and misery, but affection for their very being. When the Saviour saw the sheep of the lost house of Israel without a Shepherd scattered over the mountains, torn of wild beasts, and no one caring for their life, His compassionate nature was necessarily moved. But there was below that a love which sprang from the old relationship–they were the children of the heavenly Father.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The extent of the care of Jesus for men appears in a life of effort, and a death of sacrifice on their behalf. He sought men. He went after them as the shepherd goes after his lost sheep. There were others who searched, some for riches, others for knowledge, others for power, and others for fame, but He sought out men–not the tatters of sin which covered their life, but themselves. He Unsealed the fountains of their being, and made streams of devotion flow God-ward.<\/p>\n A call to the Lords own flock<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That we avow Jehovah to be our God. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is the God of believers to this day. We do not wish to have any other God, although in these days the carnally wise have set up another. This effeminate deity now occupies the place once given to Apollo or Venus, and he is as much a false god as they were.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That we are His people. Our song is, My Beloved is mine, and I am His. To glorify God in our spirits and in our bodies, which are alike redeemed, is our reasonable service. In Jehovah is our trust, our joy, our glory.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Our joyful confidence in our Immanuel–God with us. Leave out the word am, which is in italics, and you get it, God with them. What is this but God with us? Has there not been a Divine nearness between our souls and Christ since that first day when we touched His garments hem and were made whole?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The first mark is the gathering in of the scattered (verse 11). Conversion is the sure sign of the immediate presence of the Lord. Glory be to His name, His hand is stretched out still for miracles of grace.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>A second token of the Lords presence is the feeding of the flock. The Holy Spirit seems to lay great stress upon that (verse 15). Have not your Sabbaths been times of holy festival? Has not the King Himself banqueted with us? At the communion table have we not been transported with such joys as can never be excelled until we behold the Chief Shepherd face to face?<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Another token of the presence of the Good Shepherd is the healing of the sick; I mean the spiritually sick, for there is this promise given, I will seek that which was lost, etc. It is a rare joy to restore such as have been overtaken in a fault. The God of our salvation hath devised means to bring home His banished, and therefore He is still in the midst of us. Glory be to His condescending love!<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>A further Drool of the presence of God in a church is when the Lord Jesus Christ is greatly honoured; for here it is written, I will set up one shepherd over them, etc. If your faith rested anywhere but in the glorious person and finished work of the Son of God it were a worthless faith. If He be indeed the Lord of whom we are the loyal subjects, then the Lord our God is with us, and we are His people.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>A further evidence of the Lords presence with a people is found in their prevailing peace of mind. I will make with them a covenant of peace, etc. Do not many of you realise that deep peace, the peace of God which passeth all understanding, so that you are free from all fear, and happy amid grievous poverty and trial?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>God calls His Church His flock. A flock is the shepherds treasure, it is his living wealth; but it is also the shepherds care, it is his constant anxiety. A true Church is therefore a very precious thing, it is not a mere human society banded together for certain objects, but it is a community which God Himself hath formed, and over which He doth watch with an unsleeping eye.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Observe that it is added, The flock of My pasture. There is a different idea here. It shows that Gods people are not only peculiar in other things, but they are peculiar in their feeding. You may know a child of God by that which his soul lives upon. Gods people know their Lord, and they know the kind of food which He gives them. They know the truth from a lie. They will have nothing but clean provender, and the more evidently it comes from the great Shepherds own hand the better it is to them.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is a very singular thing, but it is added, Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men. Ye are men: then God knows what kind of persons we are, whom He has loved with an everlasting love. We are Adams, not angels. Gods people are but men; yet they are men and not brutes. There are in human form many who are hardly so good as brutes; but the saints are gentle, compassionate, and gracious. Gods people are true men: when the Spirit of God is in them they quit themselves like men; they come to the front and bear the brunt of the battle.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>But then He adds this blessed assurance, And I am your God. God is not a man, that He should lie; nor the son of a man, that He should repent. I hear that poor soul seeking after God, say, Oh, but I am so unworthy. Just so. The Lord knows it. He says you are men. But then He is not unworthy; he is worthy to receive honour and power Divine, for He is our God. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 31<\/span>. And ye my flock<\/B><\/I>] That is, under the allegory of a flock<\/I> of sheep<\/I>, I point out men<\/I>; under that of a pasture<\/I>, my Church<\/I>, and under that of a shepherd<\/I>, the Messiah<\/I>, through whom I am become your God<\/I>. And he who is your God is Adonai<\/I> Jehovah<\/I>, the self-existent Being; the Governor<\/I> and Director<\/I>, as well as the Saviour<\/I> and Judge<\/I> of men.<\/P> <\/p>\n Now, that neither you nor any else mistake the allegory, note, saith God, this flock of my pasture are not sheep literally, but they are men expressed by this emblem, and these men are those I am a God to, and will be so for ever. <\/P> <\/p>\n 31. ye my flock . . . are men<\/B>notmerely an explanation of the image, as JEROMErepresents. But as God had promised many things which mere “men”could not expect to realize, He shows that it is not from man’s<\/I>might their realization is to be looked for, but from GOD,who would perform them for His covenant-people, “His<\/I>flock” [ROSENMULLER].When we realize most our weakness and God’s power and faithfulness toHis covenant, we are in the fittest state for receiving Hisblessings.<\/P><\/p>\n And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men<\/strong>,…. This is observed, to show that all that had been said in this chapter concerning sheep, and a flock of sheep, was to be understood, not in a literal sense, but in a figurative one, of such as were rational and spiritual persons; a set of men whom the Lord had chosen, and separated from others, as his peculiar flock; and whom he took a special care of, and led them to, and fed them in, green pastures of his own providing; they are the souls of men that Christ is the Shepherd and Bishop of, 1Pe 2:25<\/span>. The Talmudists u frequently make use of this text, to prove that Israelites are only called men, and not the Gentiles; see<\/p>\n Mt 15:26<\/span><\/p>\n and I am your God, saith the Lord God<\/strong>; which is often repeated for the certainty of it, because a blessing of the greatest importance, and which includes all others in it; see Eze 34:24<\/span>.<\/p>\n u T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 61. 1. Bava Metzia, fol. 114. 2. & Ceritot, fol. 6. 2.<\/p>\n (31) The flock of my pasture.<\/strong>The chapter closes with the strongest and tenderest assurance that the object of its figurative language is to point out the renewed and close communion which is to come about between God and His people. They are to be His flock, and He is to be their God. Yet still, the vast and infinite distance between them is not left out of view, but rather brought prominently forwardthey are men; He is God. They were not yet prepared to understand how<\/em> this infinite chasm could be bridged over; only it should be by their shepherd David. We know that He was the Mediator, both God and man, thus uniting both in one.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>And ye, my flock, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> These words at the close of the chapter, explain the metaphor which runs through the whole: that which was said of a flock and its shepherd, is to be understood of men and their governors, and especially of God’s people, whom he takes care of as a shepherd does of his flock. We may just observe, that the present is a chapter upon which both magistrates and the rulers of the church ought to meditate very seriously. The complaints which God here makes of false shepherds, and the terrible denunciations threatened against them, shew, that it is the business of pastors, with their utmost diligence, to watch over the sheep with which they are in-trusted, and to provide with care and readiness for all their necessities; and that if they fail herein, they must give a severe account to God. This too lays an obligation upon princes and magistrates to govern faithfully and justly the people committed to their trust. What befel the Jews, who for the unfaithfulness of their teachers and magistrates were utterly destroyed, shews that it is the greater misfortune to a nation to have wicked rulers; and that all who are in any degree concerned for the glory of God, and the edification of his church, have the utmost reason continually to beseech him, that he would always raise up to his people good and faithful pastors. See Ostervald. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>1st, We have here, <\/p>\n 1. A woe denounced against the shepherds of Israel, the princes and magistrates, or the priests and Levites, who were the great authors of Israel’s ruin; and though their station was so high, and their profession so respectable, yet neither would screen them from severe rebuke, nor exempt them from God’s fearful wrath. 2nd, The careless shepherds are cited to God’s bar. God will punish them, and graciously rescue the flock which they have abused. 2. God will himself take care of his believing people. Though their pastors are unfaithful, and neglect them, he will provide for them. Behold, I, even I <\/em>the Lord, able and willing to save them; I will <\/em>[1.] both search my sheep, and seek them out, <\/em>all who stretch forth their hands unto him; all who mourn for his pardoning love; and all his distressed people, whether under persecution, oppression, temptation, or any other affliction. And this was fulfilled primarily in the restoration of the Jews from their captivity; and is spiritually still fulfilling day by day; while by his word and grace the Lord is gathering in all those precious souls who will receive the offers of his love, calling them out of darkness into his marvellous light; till he has accomplished his glorious plan of redemption, and his eternal kingdom come: may my soul in that day be the object of his care! [2.] He will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, <\/em>and cause them to lie down <\/em>in peace and safety, in a good fold, <\/em>and a fat pasture. <\/em>The Jews, on their return to their own land, enjoyed abundance of blessings, and particularly the privileges of the sanctuary and ordinances of God’s worship. And in the church, the mount of God, do all believers find the rich pastures of grace, and the sweet waters of divine consolation: his saints are inclosed as in a fold, under the protection of their Almighty Shepherd, are safe from all the powers of evil, and rest under his shadow with great delight: happy the people that are in such a case! [3.] He will not only recover these penitent souls from their wanderings, but heal <\/em>those of them that were hurt during their state of departure from him, and strengthen those that were sick. <\/em>The awakened sinner feels his deadly wounds, his heart is broken with a sense of guilt, and weak he finds himself, and unable to resist his corruptions; but the Saviour who bought him with his own blood, pours in his precious balm to assuage his pains, and rescues him from his state of despair. By his Spirit he renews the minds of such, gives the medicine which heals their sickness, even his divine grace and pardoning love, which can save them from the bondage of corruption; and he strengthens their weakness, that they may be enabled to walk with him and please him. <\/p>\n 3. We have a repetition of the determinations of God concerning the impenitent, to mark the certainty and terribleness of their destruction. I will destroy the fat and the strong; <\/em>for he who glorifies his mercy in the salvation of the faithful will glorify his justice in the damnation of his and their enemies; feeding them with judgment, <\/em>inflicting the righteous vengeance due to their iniquities. <\/p>\n 3rdly, The prophet turns from the shepherds to the flock, for they were of different kinds. The church of professors ever consisted of a mixed multitude, good and bad; but there is a discerning Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, here spoken of, who will shortly separate the precious from the vile. 2. Rich consolation is spoken to the faithful few. God will save them, nor will he suffer them to become a prey to their enemies; particularly by raising up the promised Messiah, under whose protection his people should dwell in safety. [2.] For his sake God will make with them a covenant of peace. <\/em>Man is by nature in a state of enmity with God, till Christ, our peace, brings us, who were far off, nigh unto God; then we become interested in the covenant of grace; God engages to be our God; <\/em>and his servant David, <\/em>the Lord Jesus, becomes our prince <\/em>and Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins, and to reign over and protect his faithful people, his Israel, <\/em>all true believers; for there are his people, <\/em>who love, serve, and enjoy him. <\/p>\n [3.] Inestimably great and precious are the privileges to which the flock of Godthe faithful, become entitled, in virtue of this covenant of peace. While the Lord their God was with them, <\/em>their deliverance was sure, and peace and plenty were now their happy portion. They shall be safe <\/em>under the divine protection; their spiritual enemies, the evil beasts, <\/em>subdued, and caused to cease out of the land: <\/em>they shall be delivered from fear of evil; though in the midst of snares, and temptations, God will preserve them; and, having broken the oppressors’ yoke, and rescued them from those who served themselves of them, <\/em>he will make them know he is the Lord, <\/em>by blessed experience of his almighty power, grace, and love. They shall want no manner of thing that is good; all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus shall surround them. I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; <\/em>so eminently shall they be distinguished with his favours; and all who see them will call them blessed; yea, they shall themselves also be blessings to other. And I will cause the shower to come down in his season; <\/em>the graces and consolations of his Spirit, which the Redeemer showers down upon the hearts of his believing people, according to their various necessities. There shall be showers of blessing; <\/em>the greatest abundance of the richest gifts of God, pardon, adoption, holiness, freely bestowed upon the believing soul: and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit; <\/em>the fruits of righteousness, which spring from these quickening showers of grace: and the earth shall yield her increase, <\/em>in an abundance of converts raised up by the preaching of the Gospel. They shall be no more consumed with hunger, <\/em>but be richly fed with that Bread which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world: neither shall they bear the shame of the heathen any more: <\/em>God having appeared for them, and made it evident, by the dispensations of his providence and grace, that he is their God, <\/em>their present portion, and exceeding great reward. The Jews, returned from captivity, enjoyed literally many of these blessings outwardly; but they are most eminently fulfilled to the Israel of Godthe faithful, in every age, who in Christ Jesus are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things.<\/em> <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n OH! ye shepherds in the fold of Christ’s Church by whatever name or rank ye are distinguished among men; here read the solemn declarations of the Lord, and behold the awful and tremendous consequences of unfaithfulness in your several and distinct charges! Who, for the sake of a trifling, short, and transitory distinction among men, would take the solemn care of the fold of Christ upon them, and have the blood of souls to lie at their doors! Oh! ye hirelings! who from carnal ends, and not from love to Christ and his sheep, rush into the service of the Lord’s pastures! Here behold the sad and miserable termination of a life so wretched, and a trust so abused! Oh! that the Lord, in compassion to his flock, would stop the mad and desperate attempt of men so lost and depraved; and give, as he hath graciously promised, to his Church, Pastors after his own heart, who shall feed his people with knowledge and understanding. Jer 3:15<\/span> .<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But from a subject so truly awful, Reader, let you and I seek relief in looking to Jesus, the good shepherd, who hath given his life for the sheep! Truly, Lord, thy Father graciously gave thee thy flock, and made them thine when thou camest to seek and save that which was lost. Through every part of this Chapter, in all that is promised of the faithful pastor, we trace thy footsteps, and mark the distinguishing features of thy character. Yea, blessed Jesus! it is thou, and thou alone, that hast gone over the mountains, and through every hill and vale, in quest of thy flock; and thou hast brought home, and wilt bring home all and everyone on thy shoulders rejoicing. It is thine office to separate the goats from the sheep; and to distinguish between the precious and the vile. And ere long, thou, who art now the Lamb in the midst of the throne, feeding those now above, and leading them to fountains of living waters, wilt bring home the whole flock that remain out of the spiritual Egypt of this world, and not an hoof shall be left behind. Then blessed Lord, all thy sheep shall be brought into one fold, and everlastingly secured from all future wanderings, when thou, the Chief Shepherd shall appear, they all shall appear with thee in glory. Amen.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD.<\/p>\n Ver. 31. And ye my flock are men.] Sheep ye are, but rational sheep, having your spiritual “senses habitually exercised to discern good and evil,” Heb 5:14 so that ye “taste and see” my goodness. Psa 34:8 <\/p>\n flock. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version omitted these two words “flock, the”. <\/p>\n are = ye [are] <\/p>\n men. Hebrew ‘adam, App-14. I: i.e. human beings, not “sheep”, as spoken of in this chapter. <\/p>\n your God. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “Jehovah your Elohim”. <\/p>\n ye my: Eze 36:38, Psa 78:52, Psa 80:1, Psa 95:7, Psa 100:3, Isa 40:11, Mic 7:14, Luk 12:32, Joh 10:11, Joh 10:16, Joh 10:26-30, Joh 20:15-17, Act 20:28, 1Pe 5:2, 1Pe 5:3 <\/p>\n I: Eze 34:24 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Psa 74:1 – the sheep Pro 27:23 – diligent Jer 13:17 – because Jer 31:1 – will Eze 28:26 – and they Eze 34:8 – prey Mic 2:12 – I will put Zec 9:16 – shall save Luk 15:4 – having Joh 10:7 – the sheep<\/p>\n THE STRAY SHEEP<\/p>\n And ye My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31<\/p>\n I. I have little doubt that when you read in this book of the shepherds who feed themselves, most of you mentally apply the words to the neglectful clergy.As a matter of fact Ezekiel, in this passage, is not speaking or thinking of the clergy at all, but of the laity. By shepherds he means the rich and the ruling. True is the proverb, Like people, like priest. A selfish, sensual, money-loving people will make a similar priesthood. If ever the prophets prophesy falsely it never is unless My people love to have it so. If you are all ice, it is hardly likely that we shall be all flame. Let us take to heart the warning of the prophet, which he addresses to all, in whatever station, who, in selfish greed and immoral acquiescence, are like the shepherds who only feed themselves.<\/p>\n II. But if we all are thus members, one of another, if all are responsible for one another, and for the society and nation in the midst of which we are living, how awful are the duties which press upon us!How small a portion of the flock in these great cities is safely gathered into the fold of God! It is enough to make the heart ache to think how vast a portion of Gods flock in His world are still wandering in the cloudy and dark day. There are the heathen; there are the increasing multitude of unbelievers; there are those who forsake the Guide of their youth, and forget the covenant of their God; there are those who call themselves Christians, who turn their very religion into lies and hatred; there are those whose God is their belly, who glory in their shame. There are the lapsed masses in our crowded centres. Do not say, We can do but little. Well, do that little. The righteous thought in the soul of one ordinary gentleman, Thomas Clarkson, crushed the slave trade. If tempted to despair in this warfare, in which there is no discharge, we have Gods promise to help us: I will deliver My sheep out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Horrible, indeed, and heartrending is the condition of a large portion of the flock; but may not these promises be the comfort of all those who love God? Ye, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n (SECOND OUTLINE)<\/p>\n THE FLOCK OF GODS PASTURE<\/p>\n The two points which stand out the most salient, and the most beautiful, in this verse are these. First, the wonder that God should make His flock out of such materials as men. And next, the comfort, that He should pledge Himself to that flock that He would be theirs for ever, and to feed them.<\/p>\n Flock is always a word of endearment in the Bible.<\/p>\n I. But the marvel is that when God would choose and make flock, He should compose it of men.We never read of His making it of angels. So loving a word is never applied to angels. Neither does He make it of saints. But men become saints when they are His flock. But when they were chosen, when they were drawn, when they were folded, they were not saints, but men, only men! And afterwards, admitted, loved, nurtured, yet what are they? Men; men, with all the weaknesses of manhoodfallen, helpless, wandering, sinful, defiled!<\/p>\n Remember what humanity is. In a state of rebellion against its Creator; in a condition of degradation: the very word humanity means fallen.<\/p>\n Every ones own breast could tell a tale which, for very shame, his cheek would burn if another read! And the history of one soul is one great humiliation.<\/p>\n And yet it is of such a thing as this that God says, Ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men.<\/p>\n And how God has made His flock, the process is more marvellous even than that.<\/p>\n There was a Man, a Man in all the integrity of manhood, a Man with all mans infirmities, a sinless Man, and God made that Perfect Man a Representative Man; and that Representative Man died, a Substitue for men; and God called that Representative Man, in the gentleness of His being, and the completeness of His sacrifice, the Lamb of God: and, as the Lamb of God, that Man entered the fold; entered into every right; and all who would follow Him enter too. He draws them; He opens the gate; He is the gate: He gives the title; He adds the fitness; and so, through a Man, the fold is filled; and because man is to be partaker of that Mans nature, and that Mans privilege, so the possession is through a Man to men. And thus God says, Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n And, oh! the change, once inside that fold. God sees us in the Immaculate One; and, for His sake, we are elect; we are loved! we are saved. In Christ, we are His own, clothed in His beauty, sharers of His holiness, partakers of His joy.<\/p>\n II. And so we come to our second point, what God pledges Himself to be to His flock.And it is that which includes everything else, I am your God. Simple words! a child can handle them; a child can utter them; a child can understand them. But who can fathom them? What can exhaust them? What an eloquence; what a grandeur! what a safety! what dignity! what rest! what desire unsatisfied! what left beside to want for time and for eternity! I am your God.<\/p>\n Only let your heart echo it, O Lord, I am Thine! and thus inscribing itself, I am Thine! that mans peace is sealed for ever, and his heaven sure!<\/p>\n Mark every word, I am your God. I. The Eternal, The Omnipotent, The Unchanging. I amall love. I amone constant presence, in cloud and sunshine, yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. From earliest infancy to hoar hairs: in life, in death, I am. The only possession you ever can have, or need to have, inalienable, personal. Your. For all that meets your need. Your God. All good in one. Father, Saviour, Sanctifier. The author and the end of your being; your Friend, your rest, your joy, your shield, your exceeding great reward. I am your God.<\/p>\n But who may hear it, and who may say it? Men. Poor, weak, impotent men; because they are men. Because Jesus was a Man; made in the likeness of our manhood. We rest our plea upon manhood. For He has said it, And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n I go before God, and I say, Lord, save me; for I am a man.<\/p>\n One of the many undertakings which God makes for His flock lies in those loving, shepherd-like words, The flock of My pasture. And if it be His pasture, that is enough.<\/p>\n And so God will lead you from place to place; from one providence to another providence; from ministry to ministry; that each may give to your soul something which the other could not give. But be it in our outer life, or the hand that ministers to you what it may, if you are one of Gods sheep, it is Gods pasture, whereever you are, to your soul.<\/p>\n And do not doubt that God will feed that life which He has given you. The flock is for the glory of the great Proprietor. Shall He not feed it as He will?<\/p>\n For the Man, who was once athirst and suffering, but now glorified, the Man, Who said, I have meat to eat, that ye know not of, knows what a man like us wants!<\/p>\n Your life, your growth, your spiritual strength is secure, for He says it, Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n But not only so. There is no religion in anything omitting the body. In Christs discourses there are as many promises about the body as about the soul; and His miracles were to the full as much for the body as for the soul.<\/p>\n He has worn this body! He wears it now! He has redeemed this body! It is in the likeness of His own Incarnation! And this body is for ever!<\/p>\n Never forget that you are a man; that a body is a needful part of a man. Ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.<\/p>\n Rev. Jas. Vaughan.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31. The flock is to be in the Lord’s pasture and therefore they will be men and not literal cattle. For that reason they may expect to obtain benefits in that field that mere man could not provide; they would have to come from the Lord.<\/p>\n Eze 34:31. And ye my flock, &c., are men These words at the conclusion of the chapter, explain the metaphor which runs through the whole of it; namely, that what was said of a flock and its shepherds, is to be understood of men and their governors, and especially of Gods people, whom their civil and ecclesiastical governors neglected, or misled and oppressed, but whom God regards, watches over, provides for, and takes care of, as a shepherd does his flock. It is justly observed here by Mr. Ostervald, that this is a chapter which both magistrates and rulers of the church ought to meditate upon very seriously. The complaints that God here makes of false shepherds, and the curses he denounces against them, show that it is the duty of pastors, with their utmost diligence, to watch over the sheep with which they are intrusted, and to provide with care and readiness for all their wants; and that if they fail herein, they must give a severe account to God for it. This too lays an obligation upon princes and magistrates, to govern faithfully and justly the people committed to their trust. What befell the Jews, who, for the unfaithfulness of their prophets and magistrates, were utterly destroyed, shows that it is the greatest misfortune to a nation to have wicked rulers; and that all who are concerned for the glory of God, and the happiness and edification of the church, have great reason to pray to God, that he would always raise up to his people faithful and good pastors. <\/p>\n The sheep in view, God clarified, were people, not real sheep. He was describing His relationship to them as people in the figure of a shepherd and sheep.<\/p>\n There are basically three views concerning the meaning of literal interpretation that may be helpful to clarify as we proceed in the eschatological portions of Ezekiel (chs. 34-48). First, some who claim to interpret the text literally do so but deny the existence of many figures of speech. In Ezekiel 34, for example, they might not recognize "shepherd" as a figure of speech but might conclude that God was speaking of the literal shepherds of literal sheep in Israel. Obviously there are few who deny all figures of speech, but interpreters of this persuasion do not recognize as figures of speech many that other interpreters do. This is "wooden literalism," "letterism," or "literalistic" interpretation that seeks "a straightforward reading of the text." Most interpreters of this type are premillennial in their understanding of the future.<\/p>\n A second group of interpreters who consider themselves literal try to recognize figures of speech where they occur in the text, the understanding of the original readers, historical perspective, contextual clues, the progress of revelation, the analogy of faith, etc. They seek to discover what the original readers understood when they read the text as a basis for understanding how we should understand it. The interpretations that I have advocated above in my comments on Ezekiel 34 and elsewhere in these notes illustrate this approach. Many interpreters in this group like to use the term "normal" to describe their hermeneutics (principles of interpretation). Most of these interpreters are also premillennial.<\/p>\n A third group interprets most portions of the text literally but believes prophetic material is mainly symbolic and figurative, not to be interpreted in a normal, straightforward manner. They depend heavily on the New Testament to understand the meaning of the Old Testament and read New Testament revelation back into the Old Testament as the Old Testament meaning. They understand, for example, some of the references to God blessing Israel in the future in Ezekiel 34 as fulfilled in His blessing the church. They do not look for an eschatological fulfillment of these promises in the Jews. For example, the promises of God regathering Israel to her land are not taken to mean that God will eventually re-gather the Jews to the Promised Land. Rather He will gather His people (i.e., all the redeemed) to heaven, the land that He has prepared for us. Thus they "spiritualize" the Old Testament prophecies while taking the rest of the Old Testament more or less literally. Most interpreters of this type end up with an amillennial or postmillennial understanding of the future.<\/p>\n Most interpreters who hold the first and third hermeneutical positions also claim to hold the second one and sometimes argue that those who hold the other positions do not.<\/p>\n "Various facets of chapters 33-48 may be used as analogies, illustrations, and object lessons in the NT; but such does not demand that the NT is necessarily giving a ’fulfillment’ of these chapters." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 906. His entire explanation of this subject, on pages 905-8, is well worth reading.] <\/span><\/p>\n And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD. 31. ye my flock are men ] Omit “are men” with LXX. and read: and ye are my flock pasture, and I am your God. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Eze 34:31 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 34:31”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>The Divine method in creation shows this. In so far as we know creation generally, and the earth in particular, this is the case. Scientific research has landed us near impassable gulfs between period and period, genus and genus, species and species; and a still wider gulf between matter and mind, which the Creators hand alone can span. By the impetus of His will God has sent forth matter and life, travelling through immeasurable distances, and they exhausted their strength. Then another breath of inspiration from Him sent them still further; and from stage to stage they have come to our own day, which appears to be the consummation of all the former processes; we will not say that it is the last, because a new heaven and a new earth are in prospect. And why do we mention these things? Because that the highest steps yet taken by both matter and life known to us are seen in the constitution of man. Call it evolution, but it means development; call it discovery, but it is as old as Genesis. It is a grand truth that an unseen hand has guided the steps of matter and life through countless ages to find a resting place today in the being of man.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The care of God for men is exhibited in the circumstances of life. We sometimes speak of the subordination of all things to the wants and wishes of mankind. When we do this we look through the spectacles of authority. When, however, we regard all these provisions and arrangements as the outcome of that supreme desire in the Divine heart to care for the flock, we have a higher and a clearer vision of the being of man. Man never appears so great and noble as when seen in the light of eternal love. Provision and preservation are the two handmaids which attend to his wants. A glance at mans creation satisfies us that he received a fitness to ascend, by degrees of discipline, into union with God. This fitness needed resources in order to expansion,–Yea, we say pasture for the flock. All things yield their fruit, and even themselves, for the service of mankind. The earth hath He given to the children of men. No less clear is the hand of God seen in the preservation of His people. He is a wall of fire around them; their sun and shield. The guardianship is so complete that not a moment of time, or an inch of space, is devoid of its presence.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The care of God for men appears more distinctly in the appointment of the Good Shepherd. The tender care of Jesus Christ was exclusively shown to mankind.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Let us be imitators of him. Let those to whom God has given light flash it on their fellow creatures who live in gross darkness. Be ye leaders of men, to go before the sheep and show them the better pasture. Defend the helpless against oppression. Show charity to them for whom Christ died. To receive Christ into our heart is a glorious state, but to give that Christ to the world is a grade higher. (T. Davies, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>I shall notice first, what the text rather suggests than declares, namely, our profession towards God.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Our proof from God. If God work among us, then shall even our adversaries say, Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is there. A tree is known by its fruit, and the rule applies even to God Himself.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Our description by God.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Negligent pastors are the most criminal of all transgressors, and may expect the heaviest judgment.
2. The sin charged upon them is, enriching themselves at the expence of their neglected flocks; indifferent what became of the people committed to their charge, they never thought of feeding them, but of fattening themselves. The magistrates <\/em>took no pains to vindicate the oppressed, to relieve the poor, to suppress vice, or encourage religion: the ministers, <\/em>intent only on their tithes and of offerings, took no pains to seek the lost, to instruct the ignorant, recover the erroneous, warn the unruly, or comfort the feeble-minded; the souls of men seemed in no wise their concern. With force and cruelty, <\/em>both in church and state, they ruled; <\/em>and used to the purposes of oppression the power committed to their trust for the protection and edification of God’s people; so that they had really no shepherd; yea, worse than none: for those who usurped the office, were in fact ravening wolves. Woe to the poor people that are in such a case! <\/p>\n
1. He will punish the shepherds for their neglect and rapaciousness. God is against them, <\/em>and his wrath who can abide? He will call them to a severe account for the loss of every sheep of his stock that perished through their negligence. Zedekiah, and the princes who rebelled shall bear the guilt of all the innocent blood which was shed in consequence thereof. And every lost soul shall cry for vengeance against the unfaithful minister who, unconcerned, suffered him to die in his iniquity. God will turn them out of their office, and suffer them no more to fatten on the spoil. The king and princes of Judah shall be hurled from their high estate, and cast into the depths of abject wretchedness, and those priests and Levites who abused their sacred office be degraded. Note; <\/em>(1.) Ministers can never too often reflect upon the solemn account that they must one day make. (2.) God justly deprives oppressors of the power which they abuse. <\/p>\n
1. A heavy charge is brought against some of the flock; the fat, the rams and he-goats, the wealthy who oppressed their neighbours, and, not content with the gains of extortion, embittered by their ill usage the little which remained to the poor flock, as if they took a pleasure in their distresses. Nay, they not only trod down the pastures, and fouled the waters, but thrust with side and shoulder, and pushed the diseased with their horns, <\/em>adding affliction to the afflicted. Many apply this to the scribes and Pharisees, who devoured the poor, fouled the waters of truth by their traditions, and oppressed with their anathemas the poor of the flock, who confessed the Lord Jesus: though it may be also generally applied to wicked men in every age, who have copied these destructive ways, and, though in profession the flock of Christ, have shewn themselves the most inveterate enemies of his pious people; but God will judge them, deliver his believing people from them now, and make an eternal separation shortly between the precious and the vile. <\/p>\n
[1.] His character and office are described. I will set up one shepherd over them: <\/em>both Jew and Gentile under him shall become one fold; and by the divine appointment he is constituted the head over all things to his church; and he shall feed them <\/em>by his word, his Spirit, his ordinances, his ministers; even my servant,<\/em> David, <\/em>so called as being David’s promised seed, and God’s servant, <\/em>as employed by him in the work of the salvation of lost souls: a plant of renown, <\/em>most transcendently glorious in his person and offices, and exalted in the preaching of his Gospel. <\/p>\nFuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"